


Squirrel Brat

by Timewormbloom



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Humor, i don’t really know what to tag for this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:53:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27727102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timewormbloom/pseuds/Timewormbloom
Summary: Rangers are near-mythical beings that are feared across the nation. But it’s a little hard to be scared of the kid that got stuck in a tree once a week. (Rewritten version of the original fic)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 40





	Squirrel Brat

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewrite of the first fic I ever wrote. The original wasn’t posted here, but you might have seen it if you’re on Tumblr. I wrote it about three years ago and wanted to see how much my writing style’s changed.

Castle Redmont wasn’t known for action. Foreign threats never made it far enough inland, and any bandits that so much as breathed in the fief were taken out. But it was an important fief with plenty of dangers. Sam had joined the castle guard with that knowledge in mind. He wasn’t expecting anything crazy, just a small taste of the action. But threats were getting wiped out before his superiors even heard of them. Part of him was relieved for the light work-load, but just putting the criminals the Rangers caught behind bars got monotonous.

Not that he would ever voice that opinion. The Ranger Corps sent a shiver down his spine. That was the other thing Redmont was known for. Its high concentration of the silent demons. Most fiefs just had one, and maybe a smaller one that would move on in a few years. But Redmont had three of them running around, and they were always poking around the castle. Sam hadn’t seen one yet, but he supposed that was the point. They could supposedly go invisible, after all. That just meant that they were powerful ones.

“I heard that the newest bandit ground was wiped out a few days ago.” John was stationed right next to Sam at the main gates. The man was a little too social for Sam’s taste, but he was nice enough.

“You know we’re not supposed to talk on duty,” Sam hissed at him out of the corner of his mouth. He vaguely wished that he could turn to the side and glare at him, but his eyes were supposed to remain firmly on the road leading into the castle. Luckily the other men on duty could do it for him.

“It’s fine. I know for a fact that all the rangers are back in town, so we can relax a little.” John had the audacity to laugh. Sam could see him slouching out of the corner of his eye.

“If you want to get in trouble, that’s on you,” Sam huffed. He was done with that imbecile. He would just report him and let the higher-ups deal with him later. After he got off of his shift, of course.

“Geez, do you need help pulling that stick-”

“Lone rider spotted.” Sam cut him off. As much as he would have liked to report him for crude language, they had an actual job to do. There was a single horse visible on the horizon, but something about it was weird. Sam quickly swiped at his eyes just to make sure, but that horse was moving faster than it should. No one would move that fast unless something was wrong. Sam clutched his weapon even closer and slowly shifted his weight onto the balls of his feet.

“Oh, that looks like it’s Will. Nothing to worry about.” John had perked up for a moment, but soon enough he was slouched back down. Sam was about to snap back at him, but the rider was almost on top of them.

The air left his lungs. There was a man in a strange mottled cloak on an oddly barrel-shaped horse. Sam caught a glimpse of silver around his neck, but what really caught his attention was the bow. It was larger than the ones the castle archers used. Something was nagging in the back of his mind. It was like there were dots that he should be connecting.

The stranger pulled the cowl back. It was a young man with an easy smile. They locked eyes for a second and Sam felt naked. The whole situation was putting him on edge.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Ranger Treaty.” Jack, one of the senior guards who had been stationed just ahead of them, stepped forward. “Are you here on business?”

“Something like that,” the man, named Will, apparently, shrugged. Some of the other guards whistled, but Sam was stuck looking at the flash of silver that turned out to be a necklace. He would recognize that oakleaf signal anywhere. The conversation going on around him flew right over his head, and things started to click into place.

“You called him Ranger.” Sam was blatantly ignoring protocol, but this was important. He frantically spun around to face Jack. His superior had just ushered Will into the castle. No one else looked like their world was falling apart.

“Yeah, that was Ranger Treaty. Have you never heard of him?”

“Of course I’ve heard of Ranger Treaty. But what is he doing here?” Sam’s voice was steadily rising in volume.

“Didn’t you hear? He has business.” Jack’s eyebrows wagged and people started to laugh.

“This is serious. We could be cursed or something!” Sam started to wave his arms around. At some point, his sword had fallen out of his hand.

“Cursed. Really. And what makes you say that?” Jack’s eyebrows were firmly up at his hairline.

“That’s a Ranger! Everyone knows they’re magic!” Sam felt like everyone was looking at him and calling him an idiot.

“You’ve never met a ranger before, I take it.”

“Why would I want to meet one?” Sam blinked back, taken aback. Did the Ranger have mind control or something?

“Okay. Here’s what we’re gonna do. Tonight, after you’re off duty, come to the office. We’ll sort this out.” Jack looked amused, but he gave Sam’s shoulder a firm pat and let the conversation die. “Now, back to work everyone.” (Sam stopped panicking just long enough to appreciate the pointed look that he shot at John.)

\----

He could never get the ends of his shirt to lay completely flat. It always seemed to bunch up, even when he had important places to be. The door to the officer’s quarters seemed very intimidating. He’d never had a reason to be here before, so he felt like if one thing was out of place he’d be fired. His shirt was reasonably placated with a harsh yank, and he had nothing to stop him from knocking.

“Ah, there you are. Come in and grab a drink.” Sam didn’t have time to greet Jack before he was being yanked in. A mug was shoved into his hands and he was seated on a wooden chair. There were a few other people in the room, but only Jack was focusing on him.

“So.” Sam took a small sip from the drink. He didn’t want to seem rude, but he also didn’t want to get drunk. “Why did you want to see me, sir?”

“You had quite the interesting reaction to seeing Will this morning.” Jack took a long gulp out of his own mug.

“Was I being unprofessional?” Sam frowned. His leg was starting to bounce slightly against his will.

“Not really. But if you’re going to keep working here, you need to be caught up on something. Don’t worry, it’s a fun story.”

\----

Jack hated guarding this area of the castle. He couldn’t list any particular reason, but it just bugged him. Maybe it was the yelling. It just put him on edge. Whenever the baron’s wards would start playing he couldn’t help but jump slightly. He could vividly recall several times where he thought someone was being murdered, but it was just a kid who fell down. Though he never really had it in him to get angry at them. When he’d see them playing from his station up on the wall, life just seemed simpler.

Except for this. This was not simple. Jack had one foot lodged in a window frame and the other tightly hooked to a nearby tree. He was barely managing to stay upright since he had to keep one hand free to try and reach the crying kid that was just out of his reach no matter how far he stretched.

“Will, just stop moving and let the nice guard help you down!” A well-meaning maid was yelling from the sidelines. It would help a lot if the kid would stop shifting around, but the yelling didn’t help. Will just started sobbing harder. Jack tried to jump slightly to reach him. He didn’t know why he thought that would help, but he did it and it didn’t. Now everyone was yelling and Jack severely regretted his decision to keep his armor on when he started his climb. He knew how many uncomfortably sharp bits were on his person.

“We have the net! Get ready to send him down!” Finally, some good news. Jack craned his neck to the side to get a look at the ground. A few of the people he had patrolled with had dragged a giant net into the small courtyard. They were scrambling to get it unfurled and under the two of them.

“Is it ready?” Jack yelled, a little louder than he needed to, but sue him. His arms were tired and he wanted to get a drink already. He deserved a day off.

“Ready when you are!”

Jack rolled his shoulders. This was the worst part.

“Hey there, kid. Are you ready to get down?” He gently coaxed the child with a small grin. Jack didn’t really have the patience for this, but he wouldn’t put it past the kid to notice and get stubborn.

“Am I gonna have to jump again?” And he was pouting like he wasn’t the sole reason for this happening.

“Yeah, unless you can climb back down on your own.” Jack had his hand outstretched, but the kid was still frowning with tears in his eyes. Will looked back at the tree, then back at Jack. “It’s gonna be fine. Those nice guards down there are going to catch you, and then you can go take a nap.”

“Okay…” The kid leaned over the branch he was clinging on to. He wiggled around until his feet were dangling over the edge. Will froze for a minute and Jack felt like screaming. How long was this going to take?

But the kid eventually took the plunge. Jack nearly toppled himself over trying to keep an eye on him as he fell. Will landed right in the middle of the net. He was instantly carted off, and Jack was left with one last problem. That net was fine for a little kid, but he was left to just shimmy down the tree.

“You okay there, Jack?”

“Yeah. I know this tree like the back of my hand,” Jack grunted. He edged his foot around to catch the branch that he knew was just within stepping distance. Just to slip on a new patch of moss that hadn’t been there last week. He landed flat on his back. Luckily he was already about half-way down, so he’d walk away with some light bruising.

“Back of your hand, huh?”

“Shut up.”

\----

“Wait, Will. As in Ranger Will Treaty?” Sam blinked blankly.

“The one and only. I still can’t look Will in the eyes without remembering it.” Jack leaned back in his chair and chuckled.

“It’s hard to imagine a Ranger doing that,” Sam said, still dazed. “It’s hard to imagine a Ranger being a kid at all, actually.”

“Will was a good kid when he wasn’t getting into things. You don’t have to worry about him.” Jack gave Sam an easy smile.

“It’s still a lot to take in.” Sam leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.

“Now, that Ranger Halt is a different matter. He’s awfully fond of throwing people in moats, so I’d keep my distance.”

“Wait, what?”


End file.
